Art for the Bedroom

Our day ended with the purchase of art for the bedroom. It's weird but there is something about the piece we both love, even though we can't explain what that is.

New Icons for Hullabaloo

We received the first sketches from the artist (a.k.a. Kevin) we hired to create icons to replace the "borrowed" icons on our web site. Yes, we're going legit. You can check out Kevin's work at the Umami Design Studio Blog.

I thought it would be cool to track the progress as I've never had anyone create anything artistic for me before and I don't know what to expect or how it all works. Kevin has agreed to draw five different icons: one of a couple (to represent Darr & I), one of two cats (to represent Ellie & Mabel), one of a dog (to represent Beauty the wonder dog), one of a camera (to represent the photos section), and one of a Mini Cooper (to represent Sophie).

I like the bodies of the cats but the hand thing is sort of freaky. Darr said he thought Ellie should be "sweet" and Mabel should be "sardonic". I've sent these comments back to Kevin. We're in what I call the drafting phase, but you should understand I know nothing of the various artistic phases, if they are indeed phases, and have no evidence that suggests this is the drafting phase of the phases. Perhaps this is the sketching phase???

Laundry

"I used to think separating the colors was stupid, but now I like it"

I think my wife might be drunk. woohoo!

iSweats: The Latest Accessory for Apple's iPod

The new issue of Dwell has landed at la maison de Gilroy and while perusing it Darr ran across this most awesome iPod accessory - iSweats. These fantastic hoodies are not currently available for iPod Nanos or Shuffles but they do fit all generations of full-sized iPods. I predict we'll see a variety of sizes in the future if they sell even modestly well. For a measly $20 (plus shipping) one of these beauties can be yours but this is a Grand Opening price so don't dilly-dally.

George W Bush Speechwriter

Ever have a desire to craft a speech for our Commander-in-Chief? Well, now you can. Introducing the George W Bush Speechwriter. Enjoy. :)

House & Shows I Hate

There are a few shows Darr and I agree are worth watching and Fox's House is one of them. So, it's Tuesday night and our butts are parked on the couch and we're partaking of this most fantabulous show.

Here's a list of shows I absolutely hate.

1. All shows on PAX - "family-friendly" programming makes me ill

2. Most shows on Lifetime - for being a network geared for women there are a surprising number of flicks that portray women as victims who just need the right man to fix whatever ails them

3. 7th Heaven - the Camdens are fucking annoying

4. The OC - horrible trying-to-be-90210-but-failing-miserably show with no good looking characters. And Peter Gallagher's eyebrows are still way out of control

5. Gilmore Girls - I don't care about any of you. Quit your bitching, embrace your rich roots, and move foward

6. Reba - because Reba's in it. I've had enough - pick a talent and stick with it. Don't go forth and multiply thy talents

Reminder of Iraq

My sister sent me a copy of an Air Force newsletter and it has photos of our men in uniform in some country (Qatar) in the Middle East and one of those men in uniform is my brother-in-law. Stay safe, Andrew.

Animal Farm

Animal Farm earns a 2. (I explained my book ratings last month.) I may be a little light on comments as I know Darr will be reading it in the future. I had no idea what to expect from this book. I figured there would be some political theorizing or a message on humanity since it was written by the author (i.e., George Orwell) of 1984, a book that receives a rating of 1 even though I haven’t read it since establishing the ratings system. And I got some of what I was expecting but the fact that the characters in the book are a bunch of talking animals was a surprisingly effective creative road to travel down. Orwell’s message, as I interpret it, is that we are no better than animals and animals are no better than us. <insert fond memories of writing my senior thesis paper here> The book starts off harshly with cruel farmer Jones (a.k.a. the evil human) mistreating his farm animals to the extent that they meet secretly, rise up, and overthrow - turning the Manor Farm into the Animal Farm. The utopian society resulting from said actions slowly deteriorates as a hierarchy is established and power corrupts those at the top. When the refrain of “Four legs good, two legs bad” turns to “Four legs bad, two legs good” and the pigs come out of the farmhouse walking upright on their hind legs, things come full circle. Perhaps the answer is to put a woman in charge? (Hillary 2008!) :)

To Great Dogs Everywhere

So, today is a sad day. Yesterday my friend Betty from work had to put her dog Benzlo down due to liver cancer.

Betty says:

We got her from the humane society over 12 years ago, and she was the coolest dog ever, and she had a great life to the end. We jogged together even yesterday morning. The photo is one of the best shots of her - she was 11 ½ at that time. She was around 13 when she died.

Enjoy your pets while they are with you - life is short!

Here's my tip-o-the hat to a great dog! She'll be missed.

Men's Bathroom

A coworker of mine sent this to me and it's so awesome I had to share. If there wasn't a good reason to go to New Zealand before, there is now. The following men's bathroom can be found on the second floor of Hotel Sofitel Queenstown. It was reported that the creator was asked to do something similar in the women's bathroom down the hall.

Peeps Research

You're familiar with Marshmallow Peeps, right? Those tasty, sugary treats that show up in grocery stores around this time of year. I stumbled across this web site a few years back and recently rediscovered it. The experiments are wonderfully photographed and catalogued. I can't decide which one I prefer - Follow-up Experiment Two: Nastier Solvent or Peeps and Cigarettes.

A Truce is Reached

Ellie commandeered Beauty the wonder dog's bed this evening as she has for the past few nights. This time, however, I was able to direct Beauty the wonder dog to another part of the bed and the two shared the bed harmoniously for almost five minutes before Ellie left. The cats have become more accepting of the dog as of late, greeting her at the door when we get back from the park, touching noses - that sort of thing. So, while we are at the beginning stages I think it is safe to say that a truce has been reached and our house shall be peaceful going forward.

A Communication Breakdown Burger with a Side of Fire, Please

Feeling a little restless and a tad lazy, Darr and I headed to the Fulton Pub, our local McMenamins, for dinner earlier this evening. Service was not particularly great and we were sort of getting cranky when the server (finally!) pulled up next to our booth and took our order - for Darr a Communication Breakdown Burger with fries and for me chicken strips and fries. Approximately twenty minutes later we were still waiting for our food and on our way toward annoyed when I noticed smoke escaping from the kitchen. The initial puff was followed by another puff which was followed by another puff and then a flurry of activity could be seen by the humans working the grill. When I caught the barkeep heading to the kitchen with a fire extinguisher (F.E.) I started thinking there might possibly be something like fire happening back there. This sneaking suspicion was confirmed seconds later when F.E. sounds were heard over the din of the pub. And I knew for sure there was fire when plumes of smoke started filling the restaurant and the acrid smell of the chemicals from the F.E. met my nose, which was sorely disappointed it wasn’t the happy smell of fries. Darr overheard one woman comment something like “I smell free beer,” but alas, this beautiful prediction never came to fruition. While one worker was on the phone calling whomever one calls in the case of fire, the servers were out in force advising pub patrons that there would be no warm food but salads were still available. Salad?! Yeah right. Darr and I slammed a fiver on the old table and left, our night on the town interrupted by fire.

Bulgaria!!

Dude, you have to check out these pictures of Bulgaria. I have a great friend who's Bulgarian and we visited there once and it was awesome. There were a couple of "I've been there" moments viewing this collection, but too few. Too Few. Koprivshtitza!

Homework again!

So it's homework night and I'm up until 2:15 doing it. Yuck. Doing SQL Server stored procedures for class, and I've got to say that SQL Server is much harder to program than Oracle. My hats off to all those SQL Server DBA's man, you got it rough!

I was complaining the other day about Oracle's dreaded: ORA-04091: table XXXX is mutating, trigger/function may not see it. That one sucks to get around for sure but I'll trade 'FOR EACH ROW' and proper throwable exceptions for that any day of the week and twice on mondays.

Woohoo I'm glad that's over.

But what's up with late night TV? Fear factor is on and they are eating something gross, as always. And there are is a stoopid cowboy guy, as always, a dork guy, as always, and two girls with suspiciously large breasts, as always. And everybody, boys and girls -- in tight tank tops, as always. Who watches this shit? Why am I watching this shit?

Woohoo I'm glad that's over.

Fairies

Watching Super Nanny this evening Darr and I learned a valuable lesson we figure we'll employ in the future - the power of the fairies. Case in point, there was one little girl who was 2 years old and still quite comfortable walking around all day with a binky in her mouth. To wean the girl off of the binkies, Jo advised using the fairy method and, voilà! binky fairies were born. What are binky fairies and how do they work, you ask. Binky fairies come to collect binkies from older children to redistribute them to babies that need them. With a little enthusiasm, you get the child on board with the project of collecting said binkies and place them in a bag, including the binky in the kid's mouth. The bag is then hung from a tree outside with the promise of a surprise present from the binky fairies to follow the next morning. At some point the bag of binkies is removed from the tree and a gift from the binky fairies is put in its place. It worked great, the kid was happy, and the binkies disappeared.

We immediately saw the benefit of this method. Whenever we can't figure out a way to get the kid to listen to us, we enlist the aid of the fairies. It's a perfect plan! Sure, it'll cost a small fortune in fairy gifts but if it keeps the kid in line that is a small price to pay. I think the trick will be to continue to create positive fairies that reinforce and reward good behavior. We don't have kids yet but I'm sure the poo fairies will visit us when potty training begins. When the child poos in the toilet, the poo fairies appear and magically whisk away the crap, leaving the traditional fairy present behind.

Brokeback Mountain - Bunnies Reenactment

Check out this 30 second reenactment of Brokeback Moutain starring bunnies. But please don't watch it if you haven't caught the movie and are planning to as it reveals the ending.

Breaking News - South Park's Loss to Scientology

Isaac Hayes, the voice of Chef, is leaving Southpark claiming the show offends his religious beliefs. Um, wtf? Southpark offensive, no way!

From the AP: "There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins," the 63-year-old soul singer and outspoken Scientologist said.

You can check out the episode that was pulled by Comedy Central on You Tube here. The episode "guest" stars include Tom Cruise (who they are trying to coax out of the closet), John Travolta, R. Kelly (with some great songs about pulling out his gun and capping bitches) and Nicole Kidman. Classic Southparkian goodness. Here's hoping Mr. Hayes comes to his senses.

Contest Winner (True = funny)

Dave over at Kermit the Blog recently held another caption contest (for the pic above) and I won! Yes, that's right, ladies and gents, I took home the big prize. Thanks to Dave for yet another fine caption contest. Seriously. I'm not just kissing ass here. I mean, as far as caption contests go, his is the best I've ever seen. That's the truth.

In case you don't know, that's Natalie Portman, actress extraordinaire and Harvard grad, who played prof for a day at Columbia University. Dave took the liberty to add the student comments, which ultimately inspired my winning caption entry.

And the prize winning caption is...
"Um, none of you could get or bang me. Now, can we please talk about terrorism and try to forget I was in Star Wars for five seconds?"

Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons

Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons earns a 3.25. (I explained my book ratings last month.) During a late night snowball fight in 1968, five women become friends. The story follows these women through the next thirty years of their lives - through the death of a husband to the birth of several children, through the breakup of marriages to finding new love, through lies and deceit to uncovering the painful yet freeing truth. It is a total chick book, made even more so by the fact that AHEB (Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons) is the name of the book club that holds these women together through the years. It is somewhat predictable and somewhat formulaic, which is why it earns the 3.25 rating, but it was still an enjoyable read. I found myself laughing out loud and on the verge of tears during various moments. I won't be ruining the book for anyone who reads it after me, as it is expected, but things seem to turn out okay for everyone at the end.

School at the condo

So I really should be working on my homework now, but I'm not motivated. Not really into statistics. Sigh.

So, next term I'm taking:
* Calculus III - should be pretty easy. The material is not trivial but the professor is fantastic and I tend to get the core math stuff pretty easily.
* Statistics II - this is not my forte. Dude, statistics is weird. So hard to work on this during the week since I don't really care for it at all.
* Accelerated C++ - this should be cool. It's C++ for people who are already programmers. I'm a little nervous about the amount of time that might be required. exciting.
* Adv Database Concepts-Oracle - this I'm waffling on. I'm taking another database class at pcc right now and I so know all of this stuff cold it's sort of been a waste of time. I expect this class might be the same. Maybe I should drop it.

Anyway, stats homework awaits. Yuck.

Pre-Order the Gospel Now

I ordered this from Amazon last night and the expected arrival date is between April 3rd and April 5th -- hey, I went the free shipping route, what do you expect?! My exploration of this text once it arrives will be thorough and lengthy. For more information on the FSM (Flying Spaghetti Monster) see the FSM link on the right. Until then, RAmen, my friends.

Thank you Mabel

Mabel, my sweet kitty, I would like to thank you for not having a dingleberry and not coming to my office and not draggin' your crappy butt all over my carpet.

You just leave that to your sister.

The Hills Have Eyes

It must be movie madness March because I have beeen watching a ton of movies lately. The most recent was The Hills Have Eyes (a.k.a. Mutant Gore Fest Extravaganza). I've been asked before why I like scary movies and it is difficult to explain. What I can say is that there are useful tidbits of information that can be gleaned from watching such flicks.

The Hills Have Eyes Lessons Learned

1. When stopping at a ramshackle gas station to fill up while traveling through the desert, don't listen to the sketchy attendant with missing teeth who offers up an off-the-map "shortcut" to get to the highway.

2. All people, including Democrats, should learn to use guns. You should also know how lodge a pickaxe in a crazy mutant human's head and how to beat crazy mutants with a bat.

3. If your dog is barking crazily at the hills, there's crazy mutant people in them thar hills.

4. When mutant human peoples have lit your dad on fire, gather everyone together before attempting a rescue. Do not, I repeat, do not leave your sister and baby niece in the trailer alone.

5. Train your dogs to kill crazy mutant peoples who attack you. Be sure to keep your trained dogs with you at all times when you are in the vicinity of mutant human peoples.

6. When running from mutant humans, don't shoot blindly over your shoulder if you have a limited supply of bullets.

7. Never splinter from the group. There is strength in numbers. Going separate directions will inevitably lead to you individually being picked off by crazy mutant human peoples.

8. Don't feel bad for the gimpy mutant people. If left unscathed, they will use their walkie-talkies to order a healthy mutant human to kill you. Gimpy mutant people won't be able to, 'cuz they're gimpy.

9. After killing the last of the crazy mutant human peoples, don't leave your gun by the body. Crazy mutant peoples have mutant strength and might not be dead.

KT Tunstall

I can't remember where I first heard KT Tunstall but I, only seconds ago, downloaded her album from iTunes. It's awesome. Perhaps the coolest thing about her is that she is responsible for all of the various sounds you hear on the album. She's the singer and the band.

Mother Fucker, I Forgot the Chips

You know how you decide what you want for dinner and you go to the store and you buy the ingredients and you get home and you are hungry and you realize you forgot the fucking chips?! Yeah, that's me.

Making a Tired Dog

We discovered a new way to tire the dog yesterday when I got off work from my Sunday job. Here’s how it works:

I am in the car driving slowly.
Darren and Beauty the wonder dog are outside on the sidewalk running alongside the car.
I am shouting things like: “Good girl!” and “Hi Beauty!” as we go along.
Darr is running to beat hell as each encouraging word the dog hears produces a new burst of speed.
I am laughing as Darr stumbles, racing to keep up on uneven terrain.
Beauty the wonder dog is smiling, her running smooth and effortless.
We are traveling at approximately 10 miles per hour.

Note: Two humans must be present when using this method. One of them must be running with the dog outside of the vehicle. Do not tie your dog directly to the car.

Shamrock Run 2006

Woohoo - our first race of the season! Darr and I woke up super early this morning, took Beauty the wonder dog outside for a brief potty walk, and headed downtown to participate in the Shamrock Run. It was early but we made it in time to grab our tee-shirts and race numbers before the race began. There were gobs of people and the cutest Irish Setters with little green hats on (unfortunately, I didn't think about taking a photo of 'em until it was too late) but the weather was not fantastic. We finished quickly, I had to teach Darr the race method of bobbing and weaving through the crowd to get out in front, and then walked up to the Red Star Tavern and Roast for breakfast. Yum, beignets!

I noticed an odd thing while walking. I apologize for the blurry nature of this photo but as we were in the midst of the race it seemed impolite to stop to aim and shoot. Anyway, these ladies were walking and the curious bumps on their behinds attracted my attention - and not in a good way. These were not odd-shaped asses but water bottles strapped on to fanny pack belt contraptions that were hidden under their jackets. This is not a good look, people, don't do this.

Velvet Cake Attempt #1

Our latest issue of Saveur magazine had a recipe for Red Velvet cake so we felt compelled to give it a try. The cake turned out a teensy bit dry but the frosting was great! You can't really go wrong with butter, confectioner's sugar, cream cheese, and vanilla extract. The search for the best Red Velvet cake is on.

Failure to Launch

I went to the Bridgeport Theatres today to catch Failure to Launch while Darr was in class. It was the kind of movie you'd expect it to be - light, airy, predictable, and totally enjoyable. I know the movie received tepid reviews, but I think Sarah Jessica Parker (as Paula) is totally cute and I loved her in this part. And let's face it, Matthew McConaughey (as Trip) is excellent eye-candy. My favorite character Kit, played by Zooey Deschanel, is the witty and somewhat neurotic best friend of Paula. For the better part of the movie, Kit is obsessed with the chirping mockingbird outside her bedroom window. When she goes to purchase a gun to kill it, chaos ensues. Beyond a few of the rather ridiculous mishaps that occur and the exceedingly stupid title is a movie worth the price of admission.

Delicate Sensibilities

Operation Dog Station

We have a little wooden stand by our front door (Fred Meyer furniture circa 1995 - from my dorm at Linfield) that has become the dumping ground for all things dog. Leash, collars, brush, poop bags, balls, and gloves (for walking dog) are all haphazardly thrown in this region. Along with all things dog are some things human: a package of three deodorant sticks from Costco that need to be returned (wrong brand), a spare change dish, keys, receipts, books, and a few small photo albums. Messy, messy, messy.

Without leaving the house - since Storm Watch 2006 is underway - I was able to find a basket that I could use to help bring some much needed order to this chaotic space. All of the crap has been distributed to other parts of the house or thrown out.

What remains are the essential by-the-front-door necessities and appropriate dog owning accoutrements. This should work much better than the old method of throw everything everywhere we have been employing as of late.

Thankfully, Ellie MacPherson was there to assist in Operation Dog Station by using her cat-self as a measuring device to determine if the basket selected would hold the required items.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

I woke up this morning, got dressed, leashed up Beauty the wonder dog, stepped outside and lo and behold snow! There was snow on the ground -- in March, snow. (Snow sentences brought to you by another 'channeling Hemingway' moment.)

Now, for those living at the tops of mountains this is not such an extraordinary thing, to find snow on the ground in March, but when you live a stone's throw from the river in downtown Portland it is. As I pay absolutely zero attention to the local meteorologists I had no clue snow was expected, even though it was colder that a witch's you know what last night.

Side note: Last night I met the girls (Tan and Anjy) for dinner and drinks at P.F. Chang's and then we walked over to the theatre, at which time we noticed the cold, to watch the movie Firewall with Harrison Ford and Virginia Madsen. No offense to Harry but this is probably a movie you can wait to see on dvd -- when you get a coupon for a $0.99 rental.

I took a blurry shot of Olive (our second car - a.k.a. the dog car) and snapped a shot of a park bench sitting outside the church Darr and I got married in last year (25 June - Darr, our first anniversary is coming up). I heard on OPB (Oregon Public Broadcasting) that there are several school closures, many in the direction I have to head for work, so here's hoping I make it there okay. Sophie's tires are bald -- we know this, we just haven't taken her in to get new tires. We are bad car parents. <insert head hung in shame here>

Secret Commercials

What's my secret?

I like Spam.

Word of the Month

Occasionally I am reminded of the really cool words that exist but aren't heard very often. I now find it is my mission to help everyone recapture these lost beauties for the benefit of all. I’d like to start with a particular favorite of mine: egad.

Here’s what the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has to say:

---------------------

Also igad, egod. [prob. representing earlier A God! from a interjection: but in later times perhaps associated with asseverations, like i’faith, or possibly with by God.]

Used as a softened oath.

--------------------

The kind folks at the OED have even added this convenient and helpful timeline to illustrate when egad was in usage amongst the commoners.

Here are some egad samplings to enjoy at your leisure.

1673 [R. Leigh] Transp. Reh. 4. Which is very civil I gad.
1751 Smollett Per. Pic. (1779) III. lxxxv. 323 An exclamation of ‘Humbugged egad!’
1791 ‘G. Gambado’ Ann. Horsem. xviii. (1809) 140 Egod, off we set, and never stopt till I got to the bottom.
1823 Byron Island II.xxi, Egad! she seem’d a wicked-looking craft.
1868-9 M. E. Braddon Charlotte’s Inher. IV.ii 93 Yes, egad, and such a fortune as few girls drop into now-a-days.

So there you have it - all you wanted to know about egad and more.

Wal-Mart Friendly Bloggers

Be wary of blogs espousing the wonderfulness of Wal-Mart. The good P.R. might have originated in the office of one of Wal-Mart’s public relations firms before being distributed via e-mail to the blogosphere. Instead of actually fixing the problems - paying exceedingly low wages and not providing health care, to name a few - that cause bad press, Wal-Mart is now using bloggers to gain favor with the public.

An article written by Michael Barbaro from the NY Times (Wal-Mart Enlists Bloggers in P.R. Campaign) outlines the specifics of the process they are using to reach you. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Oscar Revisited

The internet is great because I accidentally-on purpose missed the Academy Awards and three seconds later I was able to find out who won and what they were wearing when they walked down the red carpet. I'm here to pay my respect to the winners I care about --

Performance by an actor in a leading role: Ah, Philip Seymour Hoffman, you've come a long way my friend. I kind of thought you had peaked in Along Comes Polly. I haven't seen your performance in Capote but I want you to know, I'm proud of you, I really am.

Performance by an actor in a supporting role: George, even with that beard you're still hot. Not as hot as your ER days but there's some heat there, for sure.

Performance by an actress in a leading role: Reese, I heard your next paycheck for a movie is going to be upwards of $29,000,000. Wow! I haven't seen Walk the Line yet but I loved the trailer when it shows you closing the door in Cash's face saying "Baby, baby, baby."

Performance by an actress in a supporting role: The Constant Gardner is one of the few films I have seen - it was great and you were great and now the people who pegged you as "just another pretty face" can eat crow.

Best animated feature film of the year: Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit...um, crap, I haven't seen this one either.

Best documentary feature: I don't typically watch documentaries but I did catch March of the Penguins and it was awesome. I even managed to drag my husband to the theatre.

Achievement in directing: Ang Lee for Brokeback Moutain - It was a solidly good movie.

Best motion picture of the year: I caught Crash on dvd and it was great. If you haven't seen this one, I highly recommend it. But don't think this will be an easy film to watch. My hat's off to Matt Dillon as the rascist cop and Thandie Newton as the victim of his hate.

SNL Digital Short - Natalie Portman

If you didn't catch this Saturday night, you have to check it out. Natalie Portman (a.k.a. Queen Amidala) is rapping the fuck out of this song. I don't know how long this link will be good for but I'm hopeful iTunes will pick it up. I'd be willing to pay a buck to have this little slice of humor pie available whenever I felt the need to nibble on some comedy.

Baby Watch 2006

The first of the ten pregnant ladies I know has given birth and after waiting a respectable period to call Bianca (mom) to get approval to upload the pic, provided by personal friend and photographer Tanya - I'd link to her blog but she hasn't started one yet, I can now share it with you fine folks --

Introducing Cooper Charles, born on 20 February 2006 at approximately 11:00pm.
I'm hoping to meet the lil' guy in person Thursday night.

A Ship Made of Paper

A Ship Made of Paper earns a 2.5. (I explained my book ratings last month.) This book made me think of the following quote from Sir Walter Scott "Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!" Daniel, a small town boy turned big city lawyer turned small town lawyer, is living with his girlfriend and her daughter. They are together in the understanding that they expect what they have from each other - stability, security, predictability. This all changes when Daniel realizes he has developing feelings for the wife of another. The novel is a bit verbose at times but the haunting portrayal of a man consumed by desire presents an interesting dichotomy as I found myself sympathizing with his pain and hating his selfishness.

Christe and I disagree about something

Darren here:

So, there is apparently this whole debate about access to the "morning after pill" in pharmacies across America. I read a short piece to Christie in the Wall Street Journal about how Wal-Mart will now start offering this product in all their stores -- right now it's only offered in Illinois and Massachusetts where it’s required by state law -- and oh the uproar!

The debate, depending on your point of view, is either, “do (or should) pharmacists have the right to refuse to provide the morning after pill based on moral objections,” OR “should pharmacists be allowed to refuse a legal medical treatment to women.” If Christie and I are any guide, then bridging even this gap is a trial. How can we address the underlying issues if we can’t even agree what the underlying issues are?

For my own place, I fall firmly in the first camp: pharmacists should have the right to make individual choices about the services they provide and the products that they distribute. It’s a question of basic liberty. These are adult human beings and should be accorded the fullest possible respect for their individual views, and they should suffer the consequences of them, whether that is the loss of a customer or loss of a job.

Of course all basic liberty arguments need to be tempered somewhat by social boundaries, harm to others, and simple practical reality. You can make a basic liberty argument for running down the middle of I-5 with nothing more on than your birthday suit and a pair of dirty white socks, but that’s not going to get you very far in my book.

So, how can we evaluate if a pharmacist should be allowed to refuse service:

1. Does it fall within general social boundaries? Well, I certainly don’t agree with it. Any pharmacist who refuses to provide something as innocuous as the morning-after pill is just silly. (I know what innocuous means and I realize that perhaps it’s not particularly apt, but there you go, it’s out there.) Given that this debate can be somewhat polarizing -- with some crazies referring to it as an early abortion – I don’t think that we have a general consensus one way or another. Anyway, I think these people, if they choose to refuse service, are wrong. But I will still defend their right be wrong.
2. Does this impose harm to others? Well, if somebody doesn’t get a morning after pill when they need one, it can have a significant impact on their life, no question. But they can just go to another pharmacist. In America there are 71 per every 100,000 people, in the trivial case, we expect the average smaller-city like Burns, Oregon (population 3000) to have two. A problem with access is possible, but few places are so far remote.
3. Is this limited by practical reality? No, not at all. FedEx goes everywhere. There are some people who will be impacted, especially the very poor … although you know ‘impacted’ is too harsh: it’s probably more accurate to say the other remedies aren’t convenient. They can’t drive to another town (too expensive), order online (no computer) or whatever else. These are important cases to be sure, but if we are concerned about marginal cases we should address them as marginal cases and not with a blanket rule.

Now, my lovely wife disagrees with me. Our discussion got me pretty fired up. I feel better now.

Introducing the Toyota FJ Cruiser

Darr and I saw one of these beasts on the road this afternoon when returning from the dog trainer's with Beauty the wonder dog and I immediately thought Hey, look! Our future car!

It is now several hours later and I have learned much about the FJ Cruiser that is expected to land at local Toyota dealerships in May 2006, and possibly in our driveway a few months later. For starters, this vehicle is gargantuan when compared to our Sophie (for those of you who don't know, we drive a Mini Cooper). The FJ Cruiser is reasonably priced (base price for a 4x4 manual transmission without any options was just over $22,000) and is best described by Ezra Dyer, writer for the NY Times, as "the freakiest thing to come out of Toyota since the engineers locked management in a broom closet and built the Previa, a supercharged egg-shaped midengined minivan." (Click here to read the full review.)

We're going to need a larger vehicle soon. That's what happens when you adopt a dog and start thinking about the possibility of attempting to try and add another human to the family, right? (No, we aren't trying.) Besides, the funky retro look is what we gravitate toward. Clearly this gas guzzler would only hit the open road, or open mountain given those big ass tires, on the weekend. But just think of all the beer, uh, soda, we could cram in the back. (Don't worry - we'd drive, park, and then drink.)

I mean, if we were concerned about getting a real commuter car we'd buy a Tango. (See pic at right. Aren't those cars frickin' hilarious!) Just think of all of the available parking downtown if everyone drove these babies.

Child of my Heart

Child of my Heart earns a 3. (I explained my book ratings last month.) The languid pace of the novel was comforting - mimicking the content tiredness of the characters after a day at the beach. Theresa, the novel's ingenue, is relating the events of her 15th summer, when her young cousin, Daisy, comes to visit. Theresa, with Daisy in tow, stays busy walking dogs and babysitting - jobs her parents encouraged in an attempt to use her budding beauty to capture a better life. The normal teenage angst is present as Theresa is led through a series of experiences that illustrate both the harsh and gentle realities of becoming an adult.

Irish Cuisine

We subscribe to two cooking magazines: Saveur and Cook's Illustrated. I prefer the latter because it tends to have more traditional American dishes, like pot roast and deep-dish apple pie. Savuer provides recipes from all over the world, like Bazhe (chicken with walnut-pecan sauce) and Manti (Turkish dumplings with yogurt sauce). Given my food fear, this is the magazine that usually causes me to break into a sweat when it arrives. Inevitably, Darren finds a recipe he wants to try, which means I am going to be forced to try it with him.

This month's country of choice is Ireland. Bless those Irish folk - they like meat and potatoes. When asked once what my favorite food was, my answer was beef stew. I could eat beef stew every day. I love beef stew. Beef stew is worthy of being eaten every day. Beef stew is what I love. (Sorry, I was channeling Hemingway.) Anyway, the Irish like meat and potatoes and so do I. This month's issue and I are in sync.

Tonight we had a modified versions of Champ (mashed potatoes with scallions) and mashed carrots and parsnips (substituting parsnips with rutabagas) with broiled flat iron steak. It was fantastic. Chunks in mashed potatoes aren't my favorite but the scallions did add a really nice flavor to the dish. Rather surprisingly, we both appreciated the mashed carrots and rutabagas. Hell, throw some butter, salt and pepper in there and how can you not like it? Of course, we capped off the meal with perfectly brewed Guinness.

The Dividends are Here!

Ever see The Jerk with Steve Martin? Know that scene when the phonebooks arrive? That's Darr and I when the mailman plops the dividends in our box.

Now it is our job to figure out what we're going to buy with our riches, and by riches I mean $126.37. Woohoo!